Vedanta Desika (1268–1369[1]), also rendered Vedanta Desikan, Swami Vedanta Desika, and Thoopul Nigamantha Desikan, was an Indian polymath who wrote philosophical as well as religious and poetical works in several languages, including Sanskrit, Manipravaḷam (a Sanskritised form of literary Tamil), Tamil and Prakrit.[2] He was an Indian philosopher, Sri Vaishnavaguru, and one of the most brilliant stalwarts of Sri Vaishnavism in the post-Ramanuja period.[3] He was a Hindu devotee, poet, Master of Acharyas (desikan) and a logician and mathematician. He was the disciple of Kidambi Appullar, also known as Athreya Ramanujachariar, who himself was of a master-disciple lineage that began with Ramanuja.[4] Vedanta Desika is considered to be avatar (incarnation) of the divine bell of Venkateshvara of Tirumala by the Vadakalai sect of Sri Vaishnavism. Vedanta Desika belongs to Vishvamitra/Kaushika gotra.[5]
On the occasion of 750th anniversary of the life of Vedanta Desika, the Indian postal department unveiled a stamp to commemorate the great philosopher's life and highly valued works. The stamp was unveiled by Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India in May 2019.
Early life
Desika was born in 1268 CE, to a pious couple named Ananta Suri and Totaramba, who named him ‘Venkatanathan’. When he was five, his maternal uncle, Kidambi Appullar, took him to attend a spiritual discourse of Nadadhoor Ammal, a revered Sri Vaishnava scholar of that time. As soon as Ammal saw the divine radiance of the child, he stopped his discourse, and hugged Venkatanathan affectionately.[citation needed]
When Ammal told the audience that he had forgotten where he had stopped his discourse, it was Venkatanathan who reminded him immediately, to the astonishment of the assembled scholars. Deeply impressed, Ammal blessed him and predicted that Venkatanathan would become the main torch-bearer for Sri Vaishnavism.[citation needed]
When Desika turned seven, Kidambi Appullar accepted Venkatanaathan as his disciple, and taught him arts, sciences and scriptures. By the age of 20, Desika became famous for his mastery over poetry, logic, linguistics, science, Vedanta, debate, and allied arts.[citation needed][note 1]
Even though Desika was multi-faceted and famous, he lived a humble and simple life with the support of his wife, Thirumangai. He undertook a vow called uchhavritti, whereby he depended wholly on the Supreme Lord for his household needs by accepting grains and vegetables donated by disciples voluntarily, without actively seeking it.[citation needed]
Desika stayed in several cities and towns through his life such as Thiruvaheendrapuram, Kanchipuram, Srirangam, Sathyagala, and Melkote. He also travelled widely all over India on foot. There exist several anecdotes regarding the life of Desika furnished by his followers.[note 2]
Philosophy
Vedanta Desika significantly shaped Vishishtadvaita Vedanta by integrating the philosophical insights of Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa, aligning ritual and metaphysics within Vedic orthodoxy. He positioned Purva Mimamsa (Mimamsa, focused on ritual and ethics) as foundational to Uttara Mimamsa (Vedanta, focused on ultimate reality), thereby bridging ritual practice with philosophical insight. Desika used Mimamsa's interpretive methods to blend Vedic and Pancharatra traditions, showing them as unified expressions of one truth.[6]
Desika upheld the Alvars' devotional elements by incorporating Tamil hymnology and Pancharatra theologies, making devotion a central aspect of philosophical discourse.[7] His work solidified and expanded Ramanuja's teachings and refined Vishistadvaita as a balanced system of metaphysics, devotion, and ritual continuity.[6]
Literary works
Desika composed many different works in languages such as Tamil, Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Manipravalam (a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil)[note 3]
He composed over a hundred works in the following genre:
32 esoteric texts revealing the hidden meanings of prappati such as the Rahasyatrayasara, the Paramapada Sopana, the Amrita-ranjani, and the Amrita-svadhini
1 drama named Sankalpa Suryodaya
13 works on arts and sciences such as Bhugola-nirnayam and Silparthasara
4 works that codified religious rites and practices such as Sri Vaishnava Dinasari and Bhagavad Aradhana Vidhi
Desika composed his poems in various poetic metres. Vedic literature is written in the form of hymns set rhythmically to different metres, called ‘chandas’. Each metre is governed by the number of syllables specific to it. Poets are expected to conform to these norms in their compositions. Desika has employed 22 metres in the 862 verses he composed on presiding deities of various temples in India. The following are some of the compositions of Vedanta Desika that provide a glimpse of his mastery over poetry, logic, grammar and philosophy[8][note 4]:
Abhitistava: a prayer to Ranganatha for relief from different types of fear, ultimately seeking and being bestowed refuge at the lotus feet of God.
Achyuta Shataka: a hundred verses in praise of Devanatha, in which Desika expresses his passionate love in the form of a bride.
Bhagavad Dhyana Sopana: Twelve stanzas that describe the steps for meditating upon the deity of Srirangam, Ranganathaswamy.
Dashavatara Stotra: describes the ten important incarnations of God to protect the world and uphold the principles of dharma or righteousness.
Dayashataka: a hundred verses eulogising the mercy or daya of the deity of Tirumala. The work is divided into 10 decads, each portraying different qualities of the personified mother, Dayadevi. It commences with the short anushtab metre. Each successive decad employs a more complex metre, till it culminates in decorative poetry
Garuda Dandaka: a hymn composed in the dandaka metre. According to legend, Desika composed it to summon Garuda to compete against a snake-charmer.
Sri Stuti: a prayer to Lakshmi. It is said to have been composed when a bachelor was sent to Desika, seeking financial help for his marriage.
Kamasika Asthaka: a prayer of eight verses to Narasimha.
Nyasa Sutras: three texts composed by Desika which extract the essence of the sharanagati doctrine of self-surrender. These are the Nyasa Dashaka, Nyasa Vimshati, and Nyasa Tilakam.
Vairagya Panchaka: five verses that describe the importance of renunciation or vairagya. The word ‘dhana’ or wealth, occurs eleven times, each with a different contextual meaning.
Hamsa Sandesha: a lyrical poem of 110 verses, reminiscent of Kalidasa's Meghaduta. It describes Rama sending a message via a swan to his wife Sita, who was abducted by the rakshasa king, Ravana.
Yadavabhyudaya: an epic poem of 24 cantos describing the destiny of the Yadava Kings, the dynasty in which Krishna appeared. It is on par with the Kalidasa's work called Raghuvamsa, which describes the dynasty of the Raghu kings, in which Rama appeared.
Paduka Sahasra: a thousand and eight verses spread over 32 divisions called paddhatis, on the holy sandals of the deity Ranganatha. Desika was challenged by another scholar to compose 1000 verses in a night, and he completed this work in three hours. Verses in one section form pictorial patterns with the arrangements of the letters used.
Tamil works
Vedanta Desika's works in Tamil are numerous, out of which two are noteworthy: Paramatabhangam, where he describes and refutes 15 schools of philosophy, and the Ahara Niyamam, where he describes the correct types food to be consumed by a Vaishnava.
Tributes
Desika on a 2019 stamp of India
Sri Vaishnava texts record how the goddess Lakshmi, known as Ranganayaki in the holy town of Srirangam, personally conferred on him the title of ‘Sarva-tantra-svatantra’ or master of all arts and crafts. It is also believed that Rangantha who is the presiding deity of Srirangam, awarded the title of ‘Vedanta Desika’, meaning: the supreme teacher of the conclusion of all knowledge. This was done because God is believed to have been immensely pleased when Desika debated with differing scholars and established the supremacy of the path of loving surrender, or prapatti-marga.
He received other titles such as ‘Kavitarkika-kesari’ and ‘Kavitarkika-simham’, the lion amongst poets; and ‘Ramanuja-daya-patram’, the recipient of Ramanuja's causeless mercy, given in a laudatory verse composed by the famous Brahma Tantra Svatantra Swami.
In Sri Vaishnavism, a thanian is a laudatory dedication in verse composed about an acharya by another acharya who is the subject's pupil, and someone whom the subject greatly admired.[citation needed] The thanian of Desika is:
This thanian was composed by brahmatantraswatantra jeeyar of Parakala Mutt on the day of star of Hastham, the star of Varadharaja Perumal of Kanchipuram in the Tamil month of Avani. It is recited before starting Divya Prabandham[9][better source needed] — the works of Alvars – by Vadakalayars. It translates as "I salute the great Venkata Natha also called Vedanta Acharya and Lion among poets and logicians and who was well adorned by both Knowledge and discretion and who well deserved the grace of Atreya Ramanuja who also had the same name."[citation needed]
A Vaḻi Thirunamam is a set of salutary verses that are chanted in temple, marking the closure of the day's Divya Prabandha Chanting. The salutary verses are sung to ensure that these temples and the practices as established by the acharyas and Ramanuja would be followed forever. Vedanta Desika's Vaḻi Thirunamam is chanted in most of the Vadakalai Divya Desams all over India.[note 5]
^Vedanta Desikan is known as sarva-tantra-svatantra, translated to "a master of all the arts". His knowledge in these fields were frequently put to test by those who could not comprehend how a single mind could be so competent in so many diverse fields of knowledge. A few episodes from Desika's life taken from regional tradition illustrate this.
Masonry
A mason challenged Vedanta Desikan to construct a well by using bricks with uneven dimensions. The Shilpa Sastra, an ancient treatise on arts and crafts from India says that bricks which are uniform in size, have square corners, have a specific size, and are red in colour are the best for construction. Even though the bricks given to him did not fulfil these requirements, Desikan used his extraordinary acumen to arrange these bricks in a unique sequence and plastered them to form the circular periphery of the well, which can still be seen in Tiruvahindrapuram.
Sculpture
Once a sculptor asked Vedanta Desikan to make an image out of panchaloha (a mixture of five metals – copper, tin, lead, silver and zinc) on a condition that the image had to exactly fit on the base provided by him. Vedanta Desikan not only sculpted an immaculate image but also pointed out the defects in the base structure provided by the professional sculptor.
Gastronomy
The Vedic scriptures categorise food into three – sattva, rajasa, and tamasa. The sattva food promotes serene mind and long life whereas the rajasa and tamasa foods promote anxiety and laziness respectively. Taking cues from the Vedic scriptures, Vedanta Desikan has provided a detailed catalogue of food which should be consumed to maintain a healthy mind and a disease-free life.
Drama
Vedanta Desikan wrote an allegorical drama called Sankalpa Surodayam which beautifully portrays the different aspects of human character and their interplay which can lead a man towards a higher goal – Salvation (moksha), or to a lower goal – the infinite loop of birth and death. Here ‘sankalpa’ is the divine will of the compassionate God to protect humans by granting them salvation and ‘suryodaya’ is the sunrise that dispels the inner darkness of man. The main character in this play is Man with two forces acting on him: (i) divine and (ii) demoniac. The divine forces aspire to attain salvation whereas the demoniac pull him into the unending cycle of birth and death. Vedanta Desikan, the mighty genius in poetry and drama, personifies these forces into kings and queens who in turn seem to be assisted by their own armies (the human qualities that drive these forces). Desikan, with his subtle wit and deep insight, portrays how these characters debate between the good and the evil propensities as he goes on to establish the divine destiny of man through them.
Mathematics
It was in early 18th century that the great mathematician, Leonhard Euler investigated and gave both open and closed tour solutions to the Knight's tour problem where the knight had to tour the entire chess board without any repetition. There is evidence[Rudrata's Kavyalankara] to show that solutions to this problem were known in India as early as 9th century. One such solution was not only stated in Vedanta Desika's works, but was woven with intricate poetry and philosophy back in 13th century. In the 30th chapter of his composition, the Paduka Sahasram, Vedanta Desikan had used several types of poetic imagery. Chaturanga Turanga Bandham was one such imagery through which one solution of the knight's tour problem had already been presented elegantly, 500 years before Euler.
Desikan showed his knowledge of the arts and sciences through other works Silpartha-saram, a guide on sculpting, and Bhugola-nirnayam – a research text on the formation of the earth.
^Several anecdotes and stories of Desika's life illustrate various aspects of his character: his unflinching faith in prapatti-marga as revealed by Ramanuja, his scholarly sophistication, his mastery over scores of arts and sciences, his immeasurable humility, and his unparalleled spirit of detachment and renunciation. Vedanta Desikan chanted the Garuda Mantra given to him by his guru, Appullar, at a place called Thiruvaheendrapuram. Sri Vaishnavas believe that Garuda appeared before Desikan and awarded him a sacred mantra in praise of Hayagriva, who is the abode of all knowledge. Pleased with his devotion, Hayagriva appeared before Desikan and blessed him with the nectar flowing from his mouth. It is believed that God resided on the tip of Desika's tongue, and all his writings and works are therefore specially blessed by God.
In the year 1327, Srirangam was invaded by Malik Khafur, the general of Alauddin Khilji, who wanted to loot the temple and destroy its deities. Desikan hid the main meity of the temple behind a newly built wall and placed a duplicate deity in the front. The smaller festival deity was smuggled out by Pillai Lokacharya and his men, and carried to Tirupati, where it was worshipped secretly for many years. Back in Srirangam, Desikan wanted to protect rare manuscripts like the Sruti-prakasha, a commentary on the Sri Bhashya of Ramanuja. Desikan and the sons of the author of Shrutiprakasha hid amongst the dead-bodies of thousands of Sri Vaishnavas killed by the marauding invaders. They escaped with the rare manuscripts to present-day Karnataka.
Twelve years later, General Gopanna of the Vijayanagara Empire, defeated the invaders and restored the city of Srirangam to its previous glory. Vedanta Desikan came back to Srirangam, and established the rituals and ceremonies for worship in the temple, which are still in vogue today. In particular, he established the chanting of the Tamil compositions called the divya-prabandhams, and installed statues of the twelve Alvar saints for worship in the temple.
A few admirers of Desikan, feeling sympathy for Desika's voluntary poverty and abstinence, decided to mix gold coins along with the rice that went to his house as alms. Desikan handed the alms to his wife, who promptly showed him the coins. Desikan informed her that they were worms that had got mixed with the rice, and separated them using a blade of grass, and threw them out without touching them.
A few envious scholars wanted to insult Desikan. They strung a few shoes just outside his door. When Desikan came out of his house the next day, the shoes hit his head. The watching scholars felt that Desikan would become angry at being insulted. Instead, Desikan exclaimed in great joy, “Oh, what good fortune do I have that the sandals of the great devotees of God have blessed me by touching my head?”.
^Appaya Dikshitar, the great medieval scholar appreciated Desikan by composing a verse in Sanskrit:
evam vichintyas sarvatra bhavaah santi pade padhe
kavi tarkika simhasya kavyeshu laliteshvapi
"Even in the simple and soft compositions of this lion of poetry and lion of logic, there is poetic excellence evident at every step he took, and indeed in every word he wrote.”
^"Vanja Para Samayam Mattra Vandhon Vazhiye
Mannu Pughaz Bhoothooran Manamuhappon Vazhiye
Kanja Thirumangai Ughakka Vandhon Vazhiye
Kaliyanurai Kudi Konda Karuththudayon Vazhiye
Senjol Tamil Maraigal Thelindhu Uraippon Vazhiye
Thirumalai Mal Thirumaniyay Sirakka Vandhon Vazhiye
Thanja Parakadhiyay Thantharulvon Vazhiye
Than Tamil Thoopul Thiruvenkadavan Vazhiye!!!
Nanilamum Than Vaala; Naan maraigal Thaam Vaala
Maanagaril Maaran Marai Vaazha
Gyaniyargal Senniani Ser Thoopul Vedantha Desikane
Innum Oru Nootrandirum!!!
Vazhiyani Thoopul varum Vedathasiriyan
Vazhiyavan Paadhara Vindha Malargal
Vazhiyavan Kodhila Thal Malarai Kondadi Kondirukkum
Theethilla Nallor Thiral!"
The meaning of the Tamil Verses are as following:
"May Your grace live long; for you have changed many unrighteous paths to the righteous path
May Your grace live long; for you have lived a life as pleasing to Sri Ramanujacharya
May Your grace live long; for you have given joy for great men with your service
May Your grace live long; for you have been an embodiment of the words of Thirumangai Alwar
May Your grace live long; for you have presented the Tamil Vedas the Divya Prabandams very clearly
May Your grace live long; for you have proved your incarnation of being the Divine bell of the Lord of Seven Hills
May Your grace live long; for you are blessing us with the path of Salvation
May Your grace live long; for you are the Lord of Seven Hills whom came to elaborate the Tamil Verses"
"May our Swami Desikan live for one more century, for the well-being of the Worlds ( The Earth, the worlds above Earth,
the worlds below Earth and the Eternal world), for the well-being of Vedas, for the sacred text of Nammalvar's
Thiruvaimozhi to present glorious in sacred Srirangam; Oh Swami Vedanta Desika, the dusts from your holy feet
are being worn by the great Gyanis to get betterment in their Spiritual life; May You live one more century for our sake!"
"May Your grace live long; the grace of Swami Desikan who was born in Thoopul, who has no equivalent in knowledge; who is our
greatest Philosopher; Long live His Lotus Feet! Long live the sacred men who are divine and pious always meditating and
celebrating the grace of this Aacharya and who are staying away from all sorts of evil deeds and who are always surrounded with
the good and sacred deeds!"
^Raman, Srilata (2020). "Reflections on the King of Ascetics (Yatirāja): Rāmānuja in the Devotional Poetry of Vedānta Deśika". In Goodall, Dominic; Hatley, Shaman; Isaacson, Harunaga; Raman, Srilata (eds.). Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions: Essays in Honour of Alexis G.J.S. Sanderson. Gonda Indological Studies. Vol. 22. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 194–213. doi:10.1163/9789004432802_010. ISBN978-90-04-43266-6. S2CID225367594.
